Embodiments presented herein generally relate to text display on mobile devices. And more specifically, to techniques for rotating text rendered on the mobile device relative to the orientation of the device.
Mobile devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets, and e-readers) provide convenience to users. For instance, a smartphone can execute a number of applications, such as web browsers, news readers, and games. Further, the portability of smartphones allows individuals to use applications from virtually anywhere. The number of smartphones has dramatically increased worldwide, including in East Asian countries, such as China, Japan, and South Korea.
Traditionally, in East Asian countries, script in paper materials (e.g., newspapers, novels, comic books) is written vertically in columns going from top to bottom and ordered from right to left. East Asian characters, such as Chinese hanzi, Japanese kana, and Korean Hangul, facilitate such a vertical orientation due to stroke order and direction in writing each character. Although East Asian characters may also be oriented horizontally, many individuals in East Asian countries are accustomed to vertical script. Indeed, newspapers and books in East Asian countries continue to be printed in a vertical text orientation. However, in contrast, websites (even those originating from East Asian countries) generally display script in a horizontal text orientation, i.e., written in rows going from left to right and ordered from top to bottom.